HOUSTON -- The last time the Los Angeles Clippers lost by more than 20 points, Doc Rivers gathered the team in a quiet hotel ballroom and made them watch tape of themselves getting blown out by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of their first-round series during a scathing three-hour film session that seemingly turned around their season.
They responded by beating the Spurs to even the series and would go on to knock off San Antonio in a classic Game 7. During the course of that series the Clippers came back from 2-1 and 3-2 series deficits because they played like the more desperate team.
On Tuesday, they tried to manufacture that desperation against a genuinely desperate Houston Rockets team, and it showed in a 124-103 blowout that extended Houston’s season and forced a Game 6 on Thursday.
“They were more focused,” Rivers said of the Rockets. “They played like they were the desperate team and we didn’t play very desperate tonight. ... We didn’t play with the urgency that we’ve played with through the playoffs, so it was disappointing to see.”
Before the game, Chris Paul shrugged his shoulders when asked about trying to close out the Rockets on the road.
“I think we just have to come out and have an aggressive mentality,” Paul said. “Closeout games, I’ve been on both sides of them. A lot of times, when you’re in that situation, you’re somewhat desperate. Tonight, we have to be the team that plays like they’re desperate. We have to be the hungrier team and come out ready to play.”
The problem is there is no way to manufacture desperation. The Clippers can say there is no momentum or carryover from one game to the next but it’s especially hard to muster up desperation against a team you’ve beaten by 33 and 25 points the previous two games and blew out by 16 without Paul to begin the series. The only real surprise going into Game 5 was that they weren’t able to hold on to a 13-point lead in the second half in Game 2 to set the stage for a sweep.
When the Clippers had that hotel meeting back in San Antonio, they were given 28-to-1 odds to win it all. After their last blowout of the Rockets on Sunday, their odds had moved all the way up to 3-to-1 and were the championship favorites, according to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index and numberFire. The chip they had been playing with on their shoulder was seemingly gone and the team that it left on the floor on Tuesday was almost unrecognizable. It certainly looked nothing like the team that had turned the corner against the Spurs and became a trendy championship pick.
“I know that’s not the team I’ve gotten accustomed to watching play,” Rivers said. “Now give [Houston] credit. I thought a lot of it was due to their pressure, but I just didn’t like how we played offense. I didn’t recognize a lot of the things we were running. I’m not sure what we were running. I have to watch the tape, but I didn’t like our offense at all.”
The Clippers boarded a flight for Los Angeles shortly after the game and Rivers said he wasn’t sure what he would have them do on Wednesday. Chances are he won’t put them through another marathon film sessions with his expletive-laced commentary. It was pretty clear to most of the players in the locker room what happened and what would have to change on Thursday.
“We played tonight like we had a couple of bullets in the chamber, and we can’t do that,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. “This is where you see the difference in teams. You see teams close out games they should close out. You have to give them credit because they outplayed us and played like they wanted it.”
While the Clippers are 3-0 in Game 7s over the past four seasons, they have not been able to close out a series prior to Game 7 during that time. They lost Game 6 of last season’s first-round series to the Golden State Warriors in Oakland before closing out the series in Game 7 in Los Angeles. And in 2012 they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6 in Los Angeles before having to close out the Grizzlies in Game 7 in Memphis. The Clippers had a 3-1 lead in that series, too.
As well as the Clippers have played in Game 7s, they realize they need to approach Thursday as their Game 7 and learn how to close out a team even if they’re technically not facing elimination. It’s a trait champions have and one the Clippers are still developing during a postseason in which they are seemingly growing each round.
“Championship-level teams find ways to stay motivated,” Jamal Crawford said. “They find ways to keep that edge and get that chip, and I’m sure we’ll get it back.”
